This invention relates generally to a type of roll baler that is capable of continuously forming roll bales of crop material while moving across a field without stopping to discharge such bales from the roll baler.
A roll baler of this general type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,045,947 granted Sept. 6, 1977, to Aquila D. Mast and assigned to the same assignee as the present application. The disclosed baler includes a lower bale forming apron and a pair of upper bale forming aprons. The upper bale forming aprons cooperate with the lower bale forming apron to define front and rear bale forming chambers. When a bale started in the front chamber reaches a predetermined size, it is transferred to the rear chamber where it is completed. While the completed roll bale is being wrapped with twine and discharged from the rear chamber, another bale is started in the front chamber. This provides for continuous baling operation. The baler disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,045,947 has not been commercially successful because it is too complex and also too expensive to manufacture when compared to conventional roll balers that have been available for several years.
The present invention provides a roll baler having lower bale forming means, upper bale forming means cooperating with the lower bale forming means to define a bale starting zone, and pickup means for delivering crop material toward the bale starting zone. The upper bale forming means extends around an indexing guide member which is located in a home position for disposing the upper bale forming means proximate to the lower bale forming means at the rear of the bale starting zone. The roll baler of the present invention also includes means for moving the indexing guide member from the home position in a substantially circular path of travel generally about the periphery of a roll bale that was started in the bale starting zone.
In its preferred embodiment, the roll baler of the present invention includes a main body portion and an auxiliary body portion pivotally connected to the main body portion for movement between a closed position and an open position. The lower bale forming means is supported on the main body portion and the upper bale forming means is supported on the main body portion and the auxiliary body portion. The main body portion includes a pair of sidewalls, and the means for moving the indexing guide member includes a pair of disks disposed inside the main body portion closely adjacent and parallel to the pair of sidewalls. The pair of disks are rotatably mounted on the pair of sidewalls, and the indexing guide member is connected between the pair of disks at a location radially outwardly from the centers of the disks.